Kathmandu, Nepal

Dwarika’s is by far the most traditionally elegant hotel in Kathmandu and is a must for anyone with a penchant for traditional Asian interiors. A feast of high Newari style, its design incorporates pieces of wood carving, stone sculpture and brass work salvaged from antique buildings in the 1960s and 1970s. They now frame a succession of courtyards made of mud bricks with temple-style fountains spouting beneath pagoda roofs. Four-poster beds and floaty mosquito nets create a classy colonial ambience in the rooms, which are huge and crammed with old furniture and sacred art.